Patent Grant
7905282
The present invention relates generally to well logging, and more particularly to pipe conveyed memory based well logging.
Logging tools are commonly used in subterranean hydrocarbon wellbores to obtain geological information related to the wellbore. Such logging tools are most often conveyed into these wellbores via a wireline cable using gravity to guide the tools into the wellbore. The wireline cable provides a means to control tool descent and position, to transfer data from a downhole position to the wellbore surface, and to retrieve the tools from the wellbore. Wellbore conditions, such as wellbore inclinations greater than approximately 60 degrees from the vertical, and/or severe washouts or ledges are commonly referred to as tough logging conditions (TLCs) and are generally not suitable for gravity tool deployment by conventional wireline cable means. Such conditions typically require other conveyance means such as a drill pipe, to reach a position in a TLC wellbore where logging is desired. Additionally, or in the alternative, a tractor may be used to assist in the conveyance.
Drill pipe conveyed logging tools often include wireless or memory based logging tools. Such tools are typically either powered by downhole batteries, and equipped with memory devices for storing collected data. Currently, these wireless tools must be retrieved to the surface of the wellbore in order to recover the collected data. Such retrieval is time consuming, often requiring 15 hours or more to complete. Thus, imposing a considerable risk to the logging operation, since it cannot be known if the log was properly performed or the data was properly collected until retrieval is complete.
In spite of the potential risks, there is an increasing desire for drill pipe conveyed logging, driven by increased horizontal well applications and the potential cost savings of logging integrated with hole conditioning runs. Accordingly, a need exists for improved pipe conveyed logging tools and/or techniques.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a pipe conveyed well logging assembly and a method of performing a wellbore logging operation using a logging tool operated in memory mode.
In another embodiment the present invention includes a mechanical means to convey and deploy a memory logging tool with pipe assisted conveyance while retaining pump through and well control functionality.
In still another embodiment the present invention includes means to remotely recover data obtained downhole by a memory logging tool.
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
As shown in
However, the driving forces necessary to convey the assembly 10 can easily crush the memory logging tool 24, which is relatively delicate to outside forces. As such, as the assembly 10 is forcibly driven to an area where logging is desired, the memory logging tool 24 is protected within the walls of the carrier assembly 20. This protected position of the memory logging tool 24 disposed within the carrier assembly 20 is referred to herein as the retracted position (see for example
As described below, when an area desired to be logged is reached, the memory logging tool 24 may be ejected from the carrier assembly 20, such that the memory logging tool 24 protrudes from a bottom end of the carrier assembly 20. This ejected position of the memory logging tool 24 is referred to herein as the extended position (see for example
To highlight some of the internal features of the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10,
Also shown in
As is also shown in
As described in detail below, the inner housing 36 includes an ejector assembly 40, a receiver assembly 44 and a transition area 42 disposed therebetween. Mentioned briefly here and in detail below, the ejector assembly 40 includes an upper latch for holding the memory logging tool 24 in the retracted position, and the receiver assembly 44 includes a lower latch for holding the memory logging tool 24 in the extracted position.
The ejector assembly 40 also includes a valve assembly (described in detail below in conjunction with
As is further shown in
As the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10 is conveyed further and further downhole into the wellbore 16, a wellbore hydrostatic pressure external to the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10 gradually increases, thus creating a large pressure differential between the internal environment of the assembly 10 and the external environment of the assembly 10. If this pressure differential is too large, then internal components within the assembly 10 can be undesirably displaced and/or damaged, and at extreme pressure differentials, the assembly 10 itself can even collapse or implode.
Thus, an internal pressure may be created within the assembly 10 to prevent too large of a pressure differential from developing between the internal and external environments of the assembly 10. This internal pressure may be created by pumping a circulation fluid through the assembly 10. The surface equipment 18 described above may include a pump for providing this circulating fluid to the assembly 10.
As such, as the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10 is conveyed downhole to a position where logging is desired, the valve assembly 56 is typically held in the open or run-in-hole position of
Thus, when the memory logging tool 24 is in the retracted position, protected within the inner housing 36 of the carrier assembly 20, and the valve assembly 56 is in the open position, circulating fluid is not allowed to enter the inner bore 48 of the inner housing 36 (where the memory logging tool 24 is disposed) and instead is allowed to circulate through the assembly 10 in the annulus 46 between the inner and outer housings 36, 38. Thus, as the circulating fluid is circulated through the assembly 10, it is not allowed to contact the memory logging tool 24. Consequently, any debris clogging or erosive effects that the circulating fluid might have on the memory logging tool 24 is avoided.
Also, note that when the valve assembly 56 is in the open position, circulation fluid is allowed to flow along flow path 70 in both the downhole and uphole directions. That is, both a regular circulation and a reverse circulation of the circulating fluid is allowed when the valve assembly 56 is in the open position.
Referring back to the interactions of the piston 54 with the valve assembly 56 (as shown in
This pressure differential threshold P1 may be exceeded by operating a pump in the surface equipment 18 to either increase the flow rate of the circulating fluid when the valve assembly 56 is open, or to simply increase the pressure of the circulating fluid when the valve assembly 56 is closed and the circulating fluid is stationary. In a similar manner, the pump in the surface equipment 18 may be used to create other pressure differentials described below for effectuating other actions within the assembly 10.
In one embodiment, the valve assembly 56 is moved between the open and closed positions as shown in
Starting with the open position O1, movement of the valve assembly 56 is now described. That is, at position O1, the valve assembly 56 is open; the outer housing pin 68 is in position O1 within the J-slot groove 64 in the outer surface 66 of the valve assembly 56; and the valve lug 58 is in position O1 within the circumferential groove 60 in the outer surface 62 of the piston 54. By exceeding the pressure differential threshold P1, the piston 54 is moved longitudinally downward relative to the deployment head 22 as described above. The downward movement of the piston 54 causes the valve assembly 56 to move downwardly due to the valve lug 58 being held within the piston groove 60. The downward movement of the valve assembly 56 causes the outer housing pin 68 to follow a path as indicated by arrow 78 from position O1 to position T1. Note however, that although the J-slot groove 64 allows for a further longitudinally downward movement of the piston 54 than that of the position of T1, the downward movement of the piston 54 is limited by a shear pin 84 extending radially inwardly from the outer housing 38, the significance of which is described below.
Since the valve assembly 56 is free to rotate with respect to the piston 54, the outer housing pin 68 moving from position O1 to position T1 causes the valve assembly 56 to rotate, creating a relative lateral movement (½L) between the valve assembly 56 and the piston 54. The outer housing pin 68 will then stay in position T1 until the predetermined pressure differential threshold P1 between the inner bore 48 and the annulus 46 is no longer exceed. At that point, the spring 76 decompresses, forcing the piston 54 to move longitudinally upward, which in turn causes the outer housing pin 68 to follow a path as indicated by arrow 80 from position T1 to position O2. As the outer housing pin 68 moves from position T1 to position O2, the valve assembly 56 rotates, creating another relative lateral movement (½L) between the valve assembly 56 and the piston 54. Thus, during one “cycle” of the valve assembly 56, (such as the cycle from position O1 to position O2) the valve assembly 56 moves by a lateral distance of L.
Each time the valve assembly 56 moves laterally, the valve lug 58 correspondingly moves laterally within the piston groove 60, such that during one full “cycle” movement of the valve assembly 56, the valve lug 58 moves by a lateral distance of L relative to the piston 54. By alternately exceeding and falling below the predetermined pressure differential threshold P1 between the inner bore 48 and the annulus 46, the valve assembly 56 may be cycled to each of the valve positions O1 to O3 and C1 to C3 as shown in
For example, when the valve assembly 56 is cycled from position O2 to O3, the valve assembly 56 rotates relative to the piston 54, causing the valve lug 58 to laterally move by a distance of L relative to the piston 54 just as it does in moving from position O1 to O2. Similarly, when the valve assembly 56 is cycled from position O3 to C1, the valve assembly 56 rotates relative to the piston 54, causing the valve lug 58 to laterally move by a distance of L relative to the piston 54 just as it does in the previous two described cycles. However, due to the shape of the piston groove 60, when the valve assembly 56 is cycled from position O3 to C1, and the valve lug 58 is laterally moved by the distance L relative to the piston 54, the valve assembly 56 moves longitudinally forward relative to the piston 54. This relative longitudinal movement causes the valve assembly 56 to occlude or close off the orifices 72 in the piston 54 (as shown by the X labeled 45 in
In the closed position of the valve assembly 56, the circulating fluid is blocked from entering the annulus 46 between the inner and outer housings 36, 38, and instead is directed to another flow path 82. Following this flow path 82, the motion of the circulating fluid is stopped by the fluid seals 34 disposed on the outer surface of the deployment head 22, which create a fluid tight seal between the deployment head 22 an the inner surface 74 of the ejector assembly 40.
With the valve assembly 56 in the closed position C1, the shear pin 84 (introduced above) may be sheared by cycling the valve assembly 56 from position C1 to C2. That is, the shear pin 84 is sheared by an end 81 of the piston 54 when a predetermined pressure differential threshold P2 between the inner bore 48 and the annulus 46 is exceeded causing the piston 54 to compress the piston spring 78 and move longitudinally downwardly with a force sufficient to shear shear pin 84 (note, that the pressure differential threshold P2 required to shear the shear pin 84 is greater than the pressure differential threshold P1 required to compress the piston spring 78.)
With the shear pin 84 sheared by the cycling of the valve assembly 56 from position C1 to C2, the full longitudinal movement of the piston 54 is no longer blocked; and when the valve assembly 56 is cycled from position C2 to C3, the extra longitudinal movement of the piston 54 allows a shoulder 86 on a downhole portion of the piston 54 to contact and radially inwardly compress the latch fingers 32 on the collet 30 of the deployment head 22. This radially inward compression of the latch fingers 32 disengages the latch fingers 32 from the upper latch profile 50 of the carrier assembly 20.
With the latch fingers 32 disengaged, frictional drag from the circulating fluid flowing through inner bore 48 past the deployment head 22 carries the deployment head 22 (and hence the memory logging tool 24) downwardly relative to the carrier assembly 20. This downward movement continues until the latch fingers 32 of the deployment head 22 reach and engage the lower latch profile 52 in the lower portion or receiver assembly 44 of the carrier assembly 20 as shown in
In an alternative embodiment, the memory logging tool 24 may be released from the latched retracted position by an electronic trigger, such as any of the embodiments of the electronic trigger described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,850, filed on Mar. 4, 2008, the entire disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Note, that when the memory logging tool 24 is in the retracted position, the seals 34 of the deployment head 22 contact a small diameter portion 86 of the inner surface 74 of the ejector assembly 40. Just as the deployment head 22 begins to move downwardly in its movement from the retracted position to the extended position, the inner surface 74 of the ejector assembly 40 opens up to a larger diameter 88 such that the seals 34 no longer contact the inner surface 74 of the ejector assembly 40. Similarly, in the transition area 42 of the inner housing 36 of the carrier assembly 20 (i.e., the portion of the inner housing 36 between the ejector assembly 40 and the receiver assembly 44), the seals 34 do not contact the inner surface of the transition area 42. Also similar to the ejector assembly 40, the inner surface 89 of the receiver assembly 44 includes an enlarged diameter 90 which does not contact the seals 34 and a smaller diameter 92 which engages the seals 34 just as the latch fingers 32 engage the lower latch profile 52.
Consequently, as the memory logging tool 24 is moved from the retracted position to the extended position, the seals 34 become quickly disengaged from the ejector assembly 40 upon a de-latching of the latch fingers 32 from the upper latch profile 50; remain disengaged as the deployment head 22 transverses the transition area 42; and become engaged with the smaller diameter 92 of the receiver assembly 44 upon the latching of the latch fingers 32 with the lower latch profile 52. Thus, the amount of dynamic friction that the seals 34 experience in moving from the retracted position to the extended position, and the wear and tear on the seals 34 which results from such dynamic frictional forces, is minimized.
As shown in
Note that with the memory logging tool 24 latched in the extended position (as shown in
However, regardless of whether the valve assembly 56 is in the open position or the closed position, reverse circulation of a circulation fluid through the assembly 10 cannot disengage latch fingers 32 from the lower latch profile 52. That is, when the memory logging tool 24 is in the extended position, a reverse circulation of a circulation fluid through the assembly 10 cannot retract the memory logging tool 24 back into the carrier assembly 20.
Notwithstanding this, the latch fingers 32 and the lower latch profile 52 are designed such that a predetermined compressive force acting on the memory logging tool 24 will cause the latch fingers 32 to disengage from the lower latch profile 52 and allow the memory logging tool 24 to retreat at least partially back into the carrier assembly 20. The value of the compressive force on the memory logging tool 24 required to disengage the latch fingers 32 from the lower latch profile 52 is pre-calculated and defined as a compressive force that would otherwise damage the memory logging tool 24 if the latch fingers 32 were to stay engaged with the lower latch profile 52 during the actuation of the compressive force on the memory logging tool 24. Thus, concerns of damaging the memory logging tool 24 by unexpected compressive forces acting on the memory logging tool 24 when it is in the extended position are minimized.
As described above, in one embodiment the valve assembly 56 includes three open positions O1-O3 and three closed positions C1-C3. In alternate embodiments, the valve assembly 56 may include as few as one open position and one closed position, or any combination of various numbers of open positions and closed positions. In embodiments were the valve assembly 56 includes multiple open positions, however, operators of the assembly 10 are allowed to adjust flow rates of circulating fluid through the assembly 10 without risk of inadvertently closing the valve assembly 56.
For example, if the valve assembly 56 is in the above described position O1, an inadvertently large (or even intentionally large) increase in flow rate through the assembly 10 will not close the valve assembly 56, but instead move it from position O1 to O2. The same is true when the valve assembly 56 is in position O2. That is, when the valve assembly 56 is in the position O2, an inadvertently large (or even intentionally large) increase in flow rate through the assembly 10 will not close the valve assembly 56, but instead move it from position O2 to O3.
Referring back to
With the distance D between the lower end 15 of the wellbore 16 and the lower end 17 of the carrier assembly 20 achieved, the memory logging tool 24 may be moved from the retracted position to the extended position, and the memory logging tool 24 may be activated to begin logging the wellbore 16. In one embodiment, the memory logging tool 24 includes a battery 21 for activating the logging. As the wellbore 16 is logged, the assembly 10 may be simultaneously pulled toward the surface 14 of the wellbore 16. This simultaneous pulling and logging may be continued until a desired length of the wellbore 16 has been logged.
After the wellbore 16 has been logged by the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10, logging data obtained during the logging operation may be retrieved in any one of several methods. For example, the entire pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10 may be withdrawn from the wellbore 16. However, this is a time consuming process, and in some instances may be undesirable. One alternative is to withdraw the deployment head 22 and the memory logging tool 24 from the wellbore 16 without withdrawing the pipe string 12 and the carrier assembly 20. This can be accomplished by attaching a fishing tool 100, such as that shown in
In another alternative the memory module, may be fished separately from the remainder of the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10. An exemplary embodiment for achieving this is shown in
In each of the retrieval operations described above involving the fishing tool 100, although a specific fishing tool 100 is illustrated and described, any appropriate fishing tool 100 may be used. In addition, although the fishing tool 100 may be conveyed into and withdrawn from the wellbore 16 by any appropriate method, in one embodiment the fishing tool 100 is attached to a cable, such as a slickline or a wireline cable, for effectuating the deployment and withdrawal of the fishing tool 100 from the wellbore 16.
In another alterative, a plug 108 (such as that shown in
In still another alternative, a wet connect assembly (also called a data transfer plug) may be pumped down and connected to the deployment head 22 such that logging data stored in the memory module 23 can be transferred from the memory module 23 to the wet connect; and from the wet connect to the surface 14 of the wellbore 16. Using this method, the logging data can be retrieved to the surface without withdrawing any of the components of the deployment head 22 or the memory logging tool 24 from the wellbore 16.
In another embodiment according to the present invention, the pipe conveyed well logging assembly 10 may be used to perform a first logging operation to obtain logging data related to a desired portion of the wellbore 16; and then the assembly 10 may be used to perform a second logging operation to obtain logging data related the same portion of the wellbore 16 as that of the first logging operation. This second logging operation can be referred to as a confirmation logging operation. In one embodiment, both the first logging operation and the confirmation logging operation are performed before the logging data is retrieved to the surface 14 of the wellbore 16.
In the above description, although element 24 is described as being a memory logging tool, the entire assembly which includes element 24 can be called a memory logging tool. For example, the entire assembly of
The preceding description has been presented with references to certain exemplary embodiments of the invention. Persons skilled in the art and technology to which this invention pertains will appreciate that alterations and changes in the described structures and methods of operation can be practiced without meaningfully departing from the principle, and scope of this invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description should not be read as pertaining only to the precise structures described and shown in the accompanying drawings. Instead, the scope of the application is to be defined by the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 61/065,666; 61/065,718; and 61/065,719, each filed on Feb. 14, 2008, and each of which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, this application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/753,192, filed on May 24, 2007; now U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,475 which in turn is entitled to the benefit of, and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/891,775, filed on Feb. 27, 2007, the entire disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090194270 A1 | Aug 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60891775 | Feb 2007 | US | |
| 61065666 | Feb 2008 | US | |
| 61065718 | Feb 2008 | US | |
| 61065719 | Feb 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11753192 | May 2007 | US |
| Child | 12367593 | US |
